I’ve always loved these two songs, especially when put in juxtaposition with one another. Classic Lennon/McCartney. About as good a contrast as you get since Strawberry Fields Forever/Penny Lane.

It’s also me. And, I think, the basic gist of the Faith. Nothing wrong with happiness and cheer. But let’s not forget the scary ghost stories. While the rest of the country is packing up the decorations and putting leftovers in the discount bin, for us it’s just beginning.

But it isn’t only snowmen and Christmas trees and tinsel. It’s also the Feast of the Holy Innocents. It’s remembering that the Christmas story, like history itself, has its roots in good and evil, salvation and slaughter.

Fun is fun. But it’s about more than that. While we don’t want to miss out on the chance to make good for future memories, we don’t want those memories confined to what we ate or drank or even the family we share time with. In the end, it’s what we do for the least of these, as one of my readers rightly pointed out. And the least of these are defined by their needs and their vulnerabilities, no matter what we think of them and where they stand on the latest ideological battlefield.

So a wonderful Christmastime to all! But make sure that next year, we look back on more than bills, games, broken appliance and the occasional party. Our short time on earth is for more than that.